Emotions cocktail
by El loopy
Summary: Hatter and Alice consider what to do with the last few drops of tea in all Underland. Alice x Hatter. Oneshot.


Emotions cocktail

"I was always taught never to mix my drinks." She said it matter-of-factly, her serious eyes cautiously studying the brunette opposite, but with a spark at the edge of her lips. Hatter lifted his eyes to meet Alice's, dancing with mischief.

"Now where's the fun in that?" he replied with a hint of that smile that made her stomach flip.

They were sat on her bedroom floor, a range of bottles lined up between them, each with a shimmering colour, vibrant and gorgeous, with a hand-written note attached to each stopper. They reminded Alice of the test tubes of chemicals she had made in Chemistry lessons. Colours so beautiful they looked edible. She'd wanted to drink them just to taste the colour. Drinking test tubes of chemicals was a stupid idea, not in the least because they were toxic. These were not – she lifted one bottle just to watch the liquid swirl and dance. This one slipped like Mercury, heavy and cloying. Remorse. She wasn't sure, however, if it would be any less of a stupid idea to drink them.

"Why did you bring them back?" she whispered again, hypnotised and Hatter sighed, slowly reaching out to remove the bottle from her hand, placing it back with the others.

"Because I couldn't just leave them there, Alice."

She nodded. She understood. He didn't just mean because they would be the source of riots _(the last few drops of tea in all of Underland!)_ but it just wasn't in his nature.

"So now we drink them?"

He nodded.

"But first we mix them?"

Now he smiled, "For the best experience, of course."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"This isn't addictive, is it?"

Hatter's eyes grew sad.

"For you? No. These are human emotions, your emotions. You have them on tap, as it were."

"For you?"

He drifted his fingers over the heads of the bottles and plucked one up.

"Not if I do it right."

She felt a spike of unease at his tone and serious face. All concentration.

"Hatter." Her hand reached out over the bottles and stilled his before he began to pour. "Let's not."

"What?" He looked at her in bewilderment. "You said we had to get rid of it Alice."

"I've changed my mind," she murmured, plucking up a bottle from his hand that seemed to be filled with swirls of golden glitter in a liquid so viscous it felt like air when she swirled it. Happiness. She put the bottle down and interlaced her fingers with his.

"I don't need the extra emotions. Do you?"

He studied her for a moment before speaking honestly, dead pan.

"It served my purpose to be as emotionless as possible in Underland. I never touched the teas. I bargained with them."

"So why now?" she asked, as her eyes drifted and caught on the bottle labelled with desire.

"There is so much of you, Alice." _So much passion. So much fury. So much stubbornness._ "I am…not."

 _Not enough._

"And yet," she smiled back at him with a quirk of her lips, "you came after me. In all your not-ness. You left your home for me."

"Yeah, well, the business would have gone bust after you blew up the Hearts Casino and set all our resources free…"

She leaned over and kissed him. It started out a soft touch but turned heated fast. Awareness of the glass bottles around them held her back from pushing him down.

"That's nice," he sighed against her mouth and she smiled.

"You are enough, Hatter. Whether you believe it or not."

"Right," he seemed flustered and uncertain. Pleased but unsure what to do with it. "So…erm…what…" he gestured at the bottles.

Alice got to her feet and began to pick them up, placing them on her dresser.

"They are beautiful. I want to keep them here." She picked up two more and they joined the others. "Like you said. They wouldn't be dangerous to humans, even if someone did take a fancy to drinking one."

She picked up the final bottle. Desire. It was the colour of burnt gold and she knew that it would taste of cinnamon and whiskey as it curled its warmth down inside.

"I certainly don't think we need any more of this," she tilted it at Hatter before placing it on the dresser with the others. As she did so she felt his hand on hers, tugging her down beside him. She let him do it, coming to rest with her face right in front of his own.

"No," he agreed, "we certainly don't," and he kissed her again to prove it.


End file.
